Portable wireless terminals have been developed from bar-type terminals to flip-type terminals, flip-up type terminals, etc. Recently, folder-type terminals and slide-type terminals have become the main style of portable wireless terminals. Of these various terminals, slide-type terminals have an opening operating structure in which a slide body having a display window is sliding-moved on a main body having a keypad, so as to be moved away from or toward the main body. With this configuration, in addition to providing the slide-type terminals with a display screen having a size similar to that of a folder-type terminal, the overall size of the slide-type terminal can be reduced. For this reason, nowadays, the slide-type terminals are preferred as high-grade products.
There have been conducted various researches and developments for a hinge device capable of facilitating easy opening/closing operations of slide-type portable wireless terminals.
Hereinafter, as one example of the prior art, a hinge device disclosed in Korean Utility Model Registration No. 362198 will be described in brief. Referring to FIG. 1, the hinge device 10 of the prior art includes a first cap 18 to be connected to a main body (not shown), a rod 12 extended from the first cap 18, a second cap 19 to be connected to a slide body (not shown) of a slide-type terminal, and a rod 15 extended from the second cap 19. The rod 12 provided at the first cap 18 is arranged alternately with the rod 15 provided at the second cap 19.
The hinge device 10 further includes a housing 17, through which a pair of the rods 12 and 15 are penetrated. The housing 17 guides the pair of the rods 12 and 15 such that the rods 12 and 15 are protruded out of the housing 17 in opposite directions from each other. A spring 13 is inserted in the housing 17, to elastically support the rods 12 and 15 penetrated through the housing 17.
In the prior art hinge device 10 having the above described configuration, if the slide body (not shown) is moved downward upon receiving an external force, the rods are moved to be further penetrated through the housing, thus causing the spring to be compressed and the first cap and the second cap to be moved close to each other. In such a state, if the slide body is further moved downward slightly upon receiving an external force, the succeeding downward movement of the slide body can be naturally accomplished by an elastic restoration force of the spring even if the external force is no longer applied.
However, the above described prior art hinge device has a limit to achieve a reduction in thickness because it has a need for the housing that is used to receive the spring and to guide the rods. Consequently, a portable wireless terminal employing the hinge device has a limit in slimness.
Moreover, as the spring is compressed in the course that the rods are moved to be further penetrated through the housing, there may occur a frictional noise between the housing and the spring.